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Michael Potts
NL
Visited:
October 2015
Reviewed: Dec 29, 2015
Email Michael Potts | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Great, but often has too many people, and there can be too many cars at good sightings.
Annick Vanderschelden
Kruger National Park is breathtaking.
The accommodations are just fine as the concept is a rest camp in a wilderness environment. There are several camps located throughout the park.
You can eat in the rest camps. A lot of visitors love to braai, especially the South Africans. Food can be bought in the shops. You can also buy your food supply outside the park which is cheaper.
Being a photographer, I travelled alone and I hired a car. If Johannesburg is your starting point in South Africa you can drive
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from there to Kruger National Park. But I took a flight to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport where I could pick up my car.I'm sure a guide might be very interesting in terms of learning aspects and so forth but as my goal was to take pictures, I preferred to do most things alone. I did a guided bush walk though which you should do also.
Finally there are always surprises. I figured out I hadn't seen a leopard and had two more days to go. But it was okay. And then suddenly the last day as a kind of goodbye present, I saw a mom leopard with two cubs. Superb.
I could go home now. But I went back...
neill_scog
GB
Visited:
October 2015
Reviewed: Apr 18, 2016
Email neill_scog | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic place needs more cats.
When i went the weather was fine in the mornings, not too cold. Throughout the day it got very warm so sunscreen and a hat is vital in a tour jeep. The animals were amazing. The first time we saw an elephant we were over the moon. We then came to learn how common they were. The cats were very illusive and in 3 days we saw lions at a distance once and a single leopard walking through dense bush. The boards in the camps and park facilities saying where the animals were was very helpful. I understand why rhino's were not allowed but a little frustrating from a tourist perspective. I would recommend always using the jeeps. One day we had to travel through the park and used a minibus the glass made pictures a lower quality and it was hard to get a good view.
An incredibly humbling and rewarding adventure I WILL do again with my son when he is of age.
Kruger is a breathtaking and surreal place, I cannot effectively describe it but I will try. From the moment (and in the way) you arrive you Kruger you will feel like you're in a fairy tale, each camp receives you with such care and kindness, it even seems as if the animals all follow suit. The feeling you get while walking through the African wilderness with nothing but a guide and a bottle of water will drive you wild, you will begin to feel like prey and you will really grasp a better understanding of how big and beautiful the world is. The accommodation we stayed at (Tanda Tula) made you feel like you arrived in heaven. The home made local food, the interaction with all of the staff and the beautiful decor and provisions were always top notch, not to mention the drinks ;). A tour at 530am and then again at 4pm allowed you to see all angles and aspects of the wild. Our guides were so personable, and geared their tours to suit our personalities and needs. If you go - pray you get stuck in a down pour, its the most romantic experience.
Ellen
US
Visited:
September 2016
Reviewed: Jan 13, 2017
Email Ellen | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unmatchable experience!
We were lucky enough to stay inside the park's borders, at Skukuza camp. We were glad to be able to do so, since having to leave the camp each evening and drive back in the morning would have minimized our morning/evening wildlife drive windows; most animals are more active during those hours.
It's impossible to predict what animals you will see on any given drive, and some of ours were disappointing. Others were stunning! After being told leopards are only rarely spotted in the park, we saw two on the same drive, one ambling across the road. On another occasion we hadn't seen anything particularly for the first hour or so, then stumbled across our first, huge herd of zebras.
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There were plenty of other people around, both at Skukuza and driving around the park. It was impossible to forget the real world when you spotted other cars every five or ten minutes. Still, for someone who's previously only seen this kind of wildlife in zoos, it was a life-changing experience.
Andre Langenus
BE
Visited:
October 2016
Reviewed: Feb 17, 2017
Email Andre Langenus | 65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Fortunate to have visited this region in time. Future of wildlife is in danger because climatchange
If you want to get the feeling of the wildlife and the region you must stay at least 3 to 4 days. Great to visit by own car, but certainly use the local organized sunset, sundown and night drive. We were lucky to spot the big five and the dangerous eight. Also many birds and small animals.
We stayed at Olifant rest camp. Great place to be with a spectacular view from the top of the hill. Good food, friendly people.
We visited SA self organized because as photographers it is very difficult to be part of a group. Be sure to get your bookings online long time before.
Great wildlife sightseeing and infrastructure
There is abundant wildlife in the park: elephants, leopards, hippopotamuses, rhinos, giraffes, buffalos, zebras, waterbucks, just to name some of them.
Early spring is a great time to visit the park, as it is the start of the rainy season, so vegetation is green and there are lots of new-born animals to see.
The Park infrastructure for tourists is great, plenty of accommodation options in the various camps, reasonably good restaurants/markets.
If you want to enjoy the place, I would recommend a longer stay (5-7 days) with 2-3 nights in a camp.
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I strongly recommend to visit different regions of the park, as vegetation / wildlife / landscape quickly changes from one area of the park to another. Just be careful that searching for animals in the landscape can be quite exhausting, especially for people who are expecting something like a visit to a zoo.The Park was not very busy, even in Skukuza, as we went during the low season.
Two final tips: get a binocular for every 1-2 person in the group ('any' binocular is better than no binocular) and buy the map/guide from SANS park that is sold in the gates, it has a lot of useful information and it has a better layout than most travel guides sold in bookstores.
Hans van der Boom
NL
Visited:
November 2016
Reviewed: May 30, 2017
Email Hans van der Boom | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A very special and exhilarating experience in one of the great parks of Africa!
Sometimes photographing birds and wildlife just seems too easy. It's stunning how close you can get to the animals in their natural surroundings and the amount of wildlife you get to see is unbelievable. Having breakfast in the park (because you need and want to start your safari very early) is an extra bonus and was very well organized. We did more than one safari (recommended!) and all our guides were thorough professionals and very knowledgeable. Transportation in the safari vehicles was great; they are built so that everyone in the car has an excellent view which is, of course, very important.
Bruwer Burger
ZA
Visited:
April 2017
Reviewed: Aug 1, 2017
Email Bruwer Burger | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
An awesome exsperiance and I make sure I visit the KNP more than once a year.
The scenery differs a lot in the KNP depending what you prefer. I love the lower part ( Crocodile bridge & Lower Sabie) of the park and the top part ( Punda Maria & Pafri ) the most.
In the lower part of the park ( Crocodile bridge & Lower Sabie) you are almost guarantee to see the big 5 in one day.
The top part ( Punda Maria & Pafri ) have the oldest trees and beautiful Fever tree woods.
The weather is average 30 degrees Celsius during the day and 15 degrees Celsius at night.
The are beautiful air-con accommodation in most of the rest camps.
Food is good but expensive and can be pursues much cheaper in towns around the park.
Not sure about Transportation but I think it will be good to hire a vehicle for a company and travel to the KPN to be able to spend the
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night inside the park. This way you can enter the park very early. 60 minutes before the gate opens for day visitor's.By a guide book from any store that will indicate all roads and animals including birds that can be found in the park and safe the money for the guide:-))
The safest place in SA if you adhere to the park rules.
Philip
GB
Visited:
October 2016
Reviewed: Aug 9, 2017
Email Philip | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Excellent Trip
The Bridge at the Malanane entrance is a great place to spot birds and crocodiles and we spent quite a long time there.
I liked the way that you can drive yourself around and you are pretty much guaranteed to see wildlife. You probably may see a bit more if you go with a guide but there is so much to see that it is not essential to be guided around especially if you like your independence
The birdlife was pretty interesting with lots of species that you will never have seen before if you are a European.
The camp at lower sabe is a really nice place to stop for lunch as the open air restaurant looks out over the river and we saw hippo and giraffes while we ate our lunch.
We had brilliant stay at Pretorioskop
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in really smart bungalow accommodation. Not all the accommodation here is the same we were lucky to be in a really smart place that exceeded our expectations but there is accommodation of varying standards so if you want something smart it is best to check carefully what you will get for your money.I got some pretty good photographs and only had my 125mm lens with me. I really regretted not having my telephoto with me but was pretty pleased with quite a few of the photos I took
Overall a good couple of days
